New York Police Department Commissioner Bill Bratton criticized the officers under his command for protesting a perceived lack of support from New York Mayor Bill de Blasio. He also defended the NYPD to city residents rallying against police brutality.

The NYPD is now facing a second schism, this time with the city
administration. The result is that Bratton “has been thrust
into the role of a peacemaker between rank-and-file officers
furious over what they see as disrespect from City Hall, and
Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has spoken about trying to bring about
a city in which minority residents feel they are being treated
fairly by the police,” according to The New York Times.

“I think it was very inappropriate at that event,” the
commissioner said on CBS’ Face the Nation. “That funeral was
held to honor Officer Ramos, and to bring politics or to bring
issues into that event, I think was very inappropriate, and I do
not support it. He is the mayor of New York. He was there
representing the citizens of New York to express their remorse
and their regret at that death. It was inappropriate, and at the
same time, it is reflective, unfortunately, of the feelings of
some of our officers.”

But, he said he understands their frustrations. “Morale in
the department at this time is low, there's no getting around
that,” he noted, citing a number of factors – including
contract negotiations with the city, as well as national
discussions about race and policing. Yet he also praised officers
for showing "remarkable professional restraint when so much
of the invective is directed directly against them, personally
against them."

"In policing...sometimes it's difficult to see those
[concerns]. And I made comments yesterday in my eulogy about
seeing each other to understand," Bratton said on NBC’s Meet
the Press. "Right, when I say 'see each other,' that means to
not look past each other, but to really see what is motivating
what we're experiencing."

"I think it's probably a rift [with the mayor] that is going
to go on for a while longer," he told host Chuck Todd.
"However, we will be making efforts to sit down and talk with
the union leaders in particular to deal with their issues."

Bratton also weighed in on the feeling of some police officers
that they have been attacked by President Obama and Attorney
General Eric Holder.

"They really do feel under attack, rank-and-file officers and
much of American police leadership," he told Todd. "They
feel that they are under attack from the federal government at
the highest levels. So, that's something we need to understand
also, this sense of perception that becomes a reality."

"So, it's going to be a painful process. It has to be an open
process. But the process that has to be engaged in, my mayor,
myself, we are committed to engaging in it," the
commissioner added.

Despite Bratton’s efforts, however, NYPD protests against the
mayor continued Monday when de Blasio presided over the
graduation of nearly 900 police cadets at a ceremony in Madison
Square Garden. Boos and catcalls greeted the mayor when he was
introduced, along with just a smattering of polite applause, ABC
News reported. A few audience members in plainclothes stood with
their backs to him during his speech, Newsday noted.

Watch: De Blasio Booed at Police Graduation: The New York mayor
is booed at a graduation ceremony for new pol... http://t.co/x7BE7e0f4G

At one point de Blasio told the cadets: “You will confront
all manner of problems...problems that you didn’t create.”
Someone in the crowd then shouted, "No, you did!" to
which audience members responded with laughter and applause.

De Blasio went on to cite poverty and mental illness as such problems, according to
Newsday. He then told the cadets: "You can be part of the
solution and that is a blessing." Earlier in the speech, the
mayor praised new cops for “choosing what is a noble
calling” and joining “the greatest and finest police
department on this Earth.”

He promised them, “We have a responsibility to you to keep
you safe...that begins with giving you the very finest training,
the most rigorous training and you have received
that at the academy.”

De Blasio was met with applause at the end of his brief remarks,
the New York Post reported.

Bratton previously served as the NYPD’s head from 1994 to 1996.
The 67-year-old stepped back into the role at De Blasio’s
request, yet hoped to stay in the background this time around.